Our planet faces enormous economic, social and environmental challenges. Mindful of this fact, Lisbon Polytechnic is committed to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of the United Nations by investing in Environmental Sustainability, Social Responsibility, Volunteering and the Health of the Academic Community.
The institution has made a commitment to the academic community, in its personal, social and environmental dimensions in fulfilling the Goals for Sustainable Development (SDGs), namely, those related to Human Rights, such as poverty, inequality, climate change and environmental degradation, education, prosperity, peace and justice.
Lisbon Polytechnic (IPL) is thus dedicated to the transmission of good practices in the field of sustainability, following a model of development based on sustainability, scientific and technological innovation, in cooperation with society.
In this role, the institution is responsible for educating and empowering individuals, future decision-makers, practitioners and opinion leaders, to adopt behaviour that is a model of environmental sustainability. To this end it has invested in the implementation and transmission of good practices throughout the surroundings and academic community, with strategic priority given to the academic community.
The institution views environmental sustainability as a key factor in promoting a better quality of life for all. As a higher education institution with a focus on research, innovation and artistic creation, it seeks to play a key role in building an environmentally sustainable planet.
IPL thus prioritises its support for schools in the implementation of the EcoCampus Program, a concept which adapts the Eco-Schools methodology to higher education institutions (IES). In 2019, with the signing of the Sustainable Campus Network's Charter of Commitment, the institution began the realization of its goals and objectives.
The Eco-Schools Award was, for the first time, awarded to most of the higher schools / institutes of Lisbon Polytechnic, in the school year 2020/21. It is one of the largest Eco-Politechnics in the country and collaborative work was key to this reality.
The Eco-Schools Program plays a very important role in the application of educational and environmental management concepts and ideas in the everyday life of the school, especially through the participation of young people, who will be the future decision-makers, involving them in building a school and a more sustainable community. It is an international programme of the Foundation for Environmental Education developed in Portugal from 1996 by the Blue Flag Association of Europe (ABAE), which works the three strands of sustainability: environmental, economic and social, encouraging and recognizing environmental education actions for sustainability, rewarding them, and reinforcing the importance of the involvement of everyone in this endeavour.
IPL has invested in measures such as replacing lighting with lamps of higher energy efficiency in the spaces, as well as replacing and strengthening the refuse collection equipment in the building, with the implementation of eco-points, and the preservation of green spaces in the institution's Presidency Services, on the Benfica Campus and Organic Units in the surrounding geographical area.
In addition to these measures, since 2018 Lisbon Polytechnic has relied on the awareness of the student body and the recycling of materials by students, in particular with the offer of a welcome kit consisting of sustainable and reusable materials.
Among other initiatives in the academic community, webinars have been set up related to healthy habits and behavior.